Category Archives: International news

How much longer must the immigrant stunt go?

Two Republican governors — Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida — are doing a fine job of turning human beings’ hardship into a political stunt that they believe will resonate with Americans.

They are engaging in some of the cruelest policy decisions many of us have ever seen. They have decided to send migrants seeking entry into the United States to more liberal-leaning states to … seemingly make some kind of political point.

I wanted to toss a heavy object at my TV earlier this week when I witnessed the image of DeSantis laughing at the torment he is inflicting on immigrants from Latin America. He put 50 of them — including families with small children — on a chartered jet and flew them to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

He told them they would begin processing for entry into the United States. The migrants instead were delivered to an empty parking lot. Ah, but there was DeSantis in Florida, yukking it up over the game he is playing with the lives of desperate human beings fleeing tyranny.

Greg Abbott isn’t any better. He is shipping migrants out of Texas on buses, delivering them to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other communities known to be friendlier toward these migrants.

I understand fully that President Biden’s immigration policy so far is not dealing adequately with the numbers of people seeking asylum and even a safe place to escape the horrors of life in their home countries. However, is the Republican response any better? Do these governors offer any policy alternatives?

No! Instead, they play games with human lives in a disgraceful display of callousness.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Queen Elizabeth: constant is gone

It seems odd for me to believe this, but as I watch this morning the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, I am struck by the realization that for my entire life she was among those world leaders who remained a constant presence in my life.

Now she’s gone … forever.

I am not a “royalist.” Nor do I fixate on the comings, goings and happenings with all the members of the British royal family. I was saddened, certainly, by Diana’s death 25 years ago, but I got over it. I have been chagrined by the Andrew’s behavior, but I’ll get over that, too. The so-called rift between Harry and the rest of the clan? Pfft! That’ll pass.

Queen Elizabeth II, though, has been front and center of all things British for almost my entire life, which means that for as long as I have been aware of anything other than my immediate needs as a toddler, she’s been well, just there.

King Charles III is now the man, the head of state. It’s going to take some time for Charles III to assume the role of ever-present figure on the world stage. He might not live long enough to achieve the status that his “mummy” assumed.

I just am filled at this moment with a strange sense of something — or someone — missing from my conscious thoughts.

It has to be Queen Elizabeth II. I’m going to miss her.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Equipment, training pay off for Ukraine

A little known or discussed aspect of our nation’s relationship with Ukraine is that we essentially have been training the Ukrainian army for eight years, which is about the time big, bad Russia sought to reannex the Crimean Peninsula.

Russian henchman Vladimir Putin wanted Crimea back, so he invaded it to take it from Ukraine.

It then fell to administrations led by Barack Obama, Donald Trump and then Joe Biden to continue to train the Ukrainians in using the sophisticated equipment it had shipped to them to fight the Russian aggressors.

All that training — plus President Biden’s insistence on additional equipment — is paying significant dividends as the Ukraine army is showing signs of beating back the aggressors who launched another invasion more than seven months ago.

The Russians are retreating from territory they seized.

I cannot stress this point enough, which is the amazing unity that President Biden was able to build among the nations comprising the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an alliance formed to protect Europe against potential aggression from what once was known as the Soviet Union.

Putin, therefore, helped Biden keep NATO intact by threatening the alliance if it interferes in what the Russians call an “internal dispute.” It is nothing of the sort. Ukraine is as sovereign a nation as Russia.

That unity has buoyed the Ukraine armed forces as they have fought back hard against the Russian aggressors.

With that I intend now to give Joe Biden considerable credit as he has responded with resolve and determination in assessing what is plainly obvious … that Vladimir Putin’s criminal invasion cannot be allowed to stand.

It stands to reason, too, that Ukraine is drawing strength from the immense aid that is pouring into that country as it battles a once-fearsome military power.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Deception destroyed our unity

Communities across the land took time over the weekend to honor the heroes who answered the call on 9/11 and some folks spoke about the unity we felt in responding to the terrorists who inflicted so much pain on this great country.

The unity didn’t last, which naturally drew sighs of frustration among many Americans.

I want to remind us of what destroyed our national unity. It was deception from the highest office in the land.

President Bush stood on the rubble at Ground Zero and told the terrorists that they would “hear from all of us soon.” We went to war against the Taliban, drove them out of power in Afghanistan. It was a noble cause, as we had to fight the bad guys directly.

Then we took our eyes off the ball. The president talked about the “axis of evil” that included the government in Baghdad. Then the vice president, Dick Cheney, and the secretary of state, Colin Powell, told us how Saddam Hussein had a hand in the 9/11 attack, how he possessed terrible “weapons of mass destruction” and would use them against us and our allies.

In March 2003, barely 18 months after 9/11, we went to war against Iraq. With that action, we kissed our national unity goodbye.

Our eternal gratitude for the police officers, firefighters and medical teams remains strong. Their raw courage in fighting the evils of a terrorist act will remain with us for as long as those of us who remember that time will walk this good Earth.

Let us not conflate the poor decisions born of deception with that admiration.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It’s just going to be President and Mrs. Biden

Well, it appears that President Biden won’t have to wring his hands over who would accompany him and his wife to Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral in a few days.

The royal family invited only the Bidens, meaning that the president and first lady will travel to the United Kingdom by themselves to attend Her Majesty’s funeral.

There had been some chatter over whether Biden would invite any or all of his presidential predecessors to the funeral. I had argued that Biden should invite Donald Trump, even though his immediate predecessor has a ton of baggage that might preclude his accepting an invitation. You know what I’m talking about.

That won’t happen. It’s just the current POTUS and the first lady. Biden has accepted the invitation formally.

That’s that. The president won’t be losing any sleep … at least not over this matter.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

No worries, I will ‘never forget’

I went to a ceremony this morning at Princeton City Hall where firefighters, police officers, local veterans and others gathered to recall the event that shaped our nation’s future.

It happened 21 years ago when hijacked jetliners flew into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington and into that rural field in Shanksville, Pa.

No. We’ll never forget what we were doing that morning when we got the news about the terror attack on the country. It launched the global war against terrorism, a war we likely will fight for as long as Planet Earth exists.

I am sure the planet will be around long after you and I are gone.

We call it 9/11 these days. Just say “9/11” and everyone knows what you mean.

The good news is that our special forces have managed to take out the masterminds behind that attack. The bad news is that others have skulked out of the slime to replace them.

We must remain vigilant against threats that have existed all along.

And by all means we must “never forget” the unfathomable cost of what happens when we look the other way.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Ukraine scores big on the battlefield

You may count me as one cheap-seat observer who isn’t totally surprised that Ukraine’s armed forces are repelling the advance of the illegal invaders from Russia.

After all, when the Russians invaded Ukraine six months ago, I noted that the Ukrainians are far from “defenseless.”

However, I am stunned at the level of success that Ukraine has scored. We hear from the battlefield that Russian forces are in full retreat and that Ukraine intends to take back territory captured by the Russians.

Does any or all of this mean that Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin is going to surrender? Hardly. It does open the door, though, for Putin to look for some sort of way to negotiate his way back to the Kremlin and get his forces out of danger.

We had heard from a number of key U.S. military geniuses who said at the outset of war that Russia’s conventional military force was overrated, that Russia was little more than a third-rate conventional military power. The Russians, though, do possess a substantial nuclear arsenal and there have been concerns expressed that Putin could deploy some of it to put down the Ukrainians.

He’s already a war criminal, given the casualties his forces have inflicted on civilians in Ukraine. I am not going to buy into the notion that he is utterly stupid enough to use nukes and prompt a response from Ukraine, which has a hefty nuclear arsenal of its own.

I am astounded, though, to see that U.S. and allied response in the form of military aid is paying huge dividends for the heroic Ukrainians who, after all, are fighting for the survival of their country.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Will the king follow the queen’s example?

Queen Elizabeth II established many hallmarks that set her apart during her 70-year reign as the United Kingdom’s monarch. One of them was her reticence to get involved politically.

As near as anyone could tell, Her Majesty kept every single opinion she had on pressing issues of the day to herself. She chose to keep the most private counsel possible.

She is now gone, of course. King Charles III has ascended to the throne. His Majesty has spent a good bit of his life getting involved — deeply, I should add — in matters that affect the entire world. I am thinking of this moment of climate change. He also has been outspoken about HIV/AIDS research and, while he was married to his first wife, Princess Diana, in the proliferation of land mines left behind after conflicts around the world.

These all are noble causes that deserved royal attention and his great and eternal credit, the king lent his name to those efforts.

As an outsider looking in from far away, I am left to wonder now whether King Charles III will use his even more elevated platform to continue the fight against climate change. Or will he follow his dear Mum’s example and step away, seeking to preserve the standing she enjoyed as the universally loved and admired British monarch?

On the matter involving climate change, I hope he chooses the former path and continues to lend his considerable standing to the planet’s greatest existential threat.

We only have one planet to inhabit. We need to take care of it. Your Majesty, lend your voice to that battle.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Go ahead, Mr. POTUS, invite Donald

Protocol at times can be cause for heartburn, perhaps even a sleepless night or two.

President Biden has been invited as our head of state to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, set for Sept. 19. The royal family has left it up to all the invitees to determine who will accompany them to the funeral.

OK, so you might be wondering: Does the current president invite his immediate predecessor to accompany him to London to say farewell to the universally beloved queen?

My take? Sure. Why not?

You also might be wondering: Would Donald J. Trump accept such an invitation? 

My guess? Not in a zillion years.

Joe Biden is a firm believer, it appears, in presidential tradition and custom, unlike his immediate predecessor. So, it would seem only fitting for the current president to include all the living former presidents to join him. Indeed, all these men — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Trump — met with the queen during their times in office. They all have issued gracious statements in response to the death of the UK’s longest-serving monarch.

Trump, though, presents a unique set of issues. He hasn’t yet even acknowledged publicly that he lost to Biden. He continues to foment The Big Lie about “widespread voter fraud” that did not exist during the election. He has suggested he would issue blanket pardons for the treasonous assailants who attacked the Capitol on 1/6 were he sent back to the White House.

The evidence is mounting damn near daily that an indictment or three awaits the ex-POTUS for his role in inciting the violence on 1/6, not to mention the discovery of top-secret documents in the basement of his home in Florida. Sheesh …

Does he intend to play second-fiddle to Joe Biden on Air Force One? No way, man!

I believe President Joe Biden would be smart to extend the invitation … and then let Donald Trump live with the consequences of declining it.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Astonishing display of love

I haven’t had much exposure to monarchies over the years I have been able to travel. I’ve been to Thailand a couple of times, to Denmark, and, yes, to Great Britain.

They all share something in common, besides being ruled by royalty: One doesn’t hear public criticism of the ruling monarch.

The world is now mourning the death of someone who could be called Earth’s reigning monarch. Queen Elizabeth II is being heralded as the worldwide grandmother, a symbol of peace and stability. Indeed, I have heard some commentators refer to her as “the perfect monarch.”

She kept her opinions to herself, unlike the son who succeeds her, King Charles III, who for many decades has been a staunch advocate for measures to curb climate change.

I am continuing to relish the universal love that is pouring forth as the world mourns Her Majesty’s death. It has given me a wonderful respite from the nastiness that usually pervades the headlines and dominates our broadcast and cable news coverage.

It’s just so rare to experience the love that is being showered on the memory of a woman who stood at the center of the public’s attention for 70 years. May she continue to stand there for a while longer as we prepare to bid her farewell.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com